One evening a couple days after running the Scotia Half Marathon, I was in recovery mode, lying on the couch and browsing...uhm...upcoming races. Honestly, I thought I was done racing for the season and was simply researching races for 2015 (that's my story and I'm sticking to it. We also won't mention how the Tannenbaum 10K ended up on my calendar a few weeks later). I came across a race I had previously not noticed...The Monster Dash 10K. Registration was closing that evening. Oh. Incredibly cute mascot medal. The race was close to home. And the race was that weekend. Ahhh, what's one more little race?! In a moment of what was likely race-recovery-insanity, I registered.

When I went to pick up my race kit, they couldn't find my name as I had signed up so close to the cut off time. I got my bib (which I would realize as I lined up at the 10K start that it was actually a 5K bib!) and a fun long sleeve light-weight hoodie with the 'monster' on it in a cute Hallowe'en themed shopping bag.

On the evening of the race, I added some glow sticks to my hydration pack and arms, and snapped on a small bike light. Given the start time of 6:00 pm, I figured I would likely be finishing with a tiny bit of daylight. (Ha!) I scored a parking spot parked about 50 meters from the start on one of the side streets just south of the race route. (Advice to future racers, do not park in the Bloorview parking lot--it will be very backed up with cars all trying to leave after the race). I was early enough to watch and cheer on the adorable Spooky Mile kids racing in costume.

Once the munchkins were done, it was time for the 10K gun. It was a nice-sized group of runners, not too many to have to maneuver around, but enough to make it competitive. Many of which were in costume. I was happy I had at least added my glow bracelets and sticks! The route wound around the parking areas and trail towards the valley and down a steep hill. Hmm...that won't be fun on the way back, I thought! Once in the valley, the winding route was enjoyable, and the racers were chatty and having fun. The race felt more like a fun run with a bit of friendly competition. I hadn't headed into this race aiming for a PB given my half-marathon was literally days earlier. The first half felt surprisingly good, and my pace average was steady at around 6:20/km. At this point, I noticed the daylight was decreasing, but I could still see perfectly. Little more than 10 minutes later, I realized that a valley with no lights whatsoever gets darker a lot faster than a city street! I was extremely glad for my small bike light which I switched on just as we headed to some stairs that would have been incredibly difficult to navigate without any light. The runners were now quite spaced out and it was somewhat scary to not quite see where you needed to go when you lost sight of the person in front of you. Cars still drove through the park, making it even more unnerving. Around another corner and suddenly there was the hill! Wait. If I'm at the hill--doesn't that mean I am really close to the finish? The first kilometer had included the hill...I quickly thought back to when I had last heard my RunMeter app alert time...it had been 51:05. What? So was that at 9K? Without giving myself a chance to even consider the reality of this, I powered up the hill as fast as I could. I continued along the very dark and very narrow trail pushing hard, suddenly tasting a totally unexpected PB. The race route maps online hadn't been very clear for the 10K, so I kept anticipating a turn left to the finish...since we were on the last kilometer, right? Instead, the trail took us almost out to Bayview Avenue before we finally turned. At this point, I honestly had no idea where the finish was going to turn up, and I was very quickly running out of what I thought was my final kick steam. I also began to realize that this wasn't just the longest kilometer ever--I must have miscalculated. At long last I saw the finish ahead from a totally unexpected direction. With nothing left in the tank, I actually had to slow to a walk before making the final turn and powering to the finish.

It was a great relief to make our way inside to the brightly lit, warm and very nice Bloorview Hospital facility and a room full of food offerings. After having some much needed fuel, I checked the stats and was pleased to see that although I didn't get a PB--I was third in my age group! If it weren't for that crazy final-before-the-final-kilometer-kick, that certainly wouldn't have happened!

Would I do this race again? Maybe. I am definitely a morning person and runner, and waiting all day was difficult for me. I have to admit that I felt somewhat like I was putting myself at risk of injury running in the dark along trails. Perhaps race organizers could make some sort of personal lights mandatory? Lastly, running a 10K race days after running a half-marathon and expecting any sort of good time was probably not the best idea! All of that said, I loved the medal, the swag, the fun vibe and the facility. It was a fun evening and I have no regrets!

When I participated in my first race (the Scotia Toronto Waterfront 5K) in October 2013, I was focused on simply being able to finish the distance to the best of my ability. Remembering back to my training runs a year ago, the distances seemed so far, and the effort to run them so intense. Going from never running to being able to come home with a goofy smile on your face to tell your husband that you ran further than you ever have before is an incredible feeling--whether that distance is 5, 10 or (eek!) 100 kilometers! As you train for and pass each race distance hurdle--5K, 8K, 10K, etc--you can't help but feel excitement and pride in your accomplishment. I really don't think you can ever truly go back and relive that same level of excitement when reaching those milestones. Sure, you can run those distances again, but your goals are never the same as the first time you tackled that distance. Looking back, I'm glad that I set out to accomplish the race distances in a progressive manor--just so I could celebrate each and every distance along the way!

In my progression of distances, I ran the Toronto Women's 8K in the fall of 2013, and then signed up for the Toronto Yonge Street 10K in the spring of 2014. As I trained over the harsh winter, I couldn't help but wonder what other goals would be realistic for the rest of 2014. Was I progressing too fast? Would I lose interest if I completed all the distances I could do so soon? I was loving running so much, I think my biggest fear was falling out of love with running. The half-marathon loomed in my mind over that winter and spring--although I didn't mention it to many people. It was hard to fathom running more than double what I could even run at the time! I didn't want to be embarrassed if I said I was going to do it and then couldn't.

Training went well into the spring of 2014 and I developed a good base of mileage each week. In researching different race events and distances that made sense between 10K and the half-marathon, I came across the Midsummer's Night Run 15K , Toronto 10 Miler and the Beaches Jazz 20K Tune-up Run. The progressive path to the half-marathon was suddenly paved! Feeling a bit indulgent and daring, I signed up for these three stepping-stone races/runs and created a training schedule. As I upped my distance that summer, I became more confident that I could run further. This confidence led me to officially sign up for the race I had been secretly thinking about--the Scotia Toronto Waterfront Half-Marathon. And to even tell people about it!

In emails sent by Canada Running Series (CRS) providing information about the race, I kept hearing about a group of runners called Digital Champions. CRS selected these runners to become online ambassadors for the race. They were motivators, cheerleaders, answer providers and story tellers. Being relatively new to Twitter I started following a few of the ambassadors. Well. Little did I know that this decision would be almost as life changing as running itself! These individuals along with their running friends and connections became my go-to source for running advice, cheers, motivation and chatter. The running community is a ridiculously accepting and motivating group of inspiring and friendly individuals, from those just new to running to record-breaking icons like Krista DuChene and Lanni Marchant (but more about that later!) I highly recommend anyone who has started running to use social media (Twitter especially) to connect to the community and be inspired!

A few days before the race CRS held a torch relay in Toronto's Greektown. Several of the running clubs were invited to participate along with the digital champions and community leaders. Given the proximity, I decided to attend. I had only been there a few minutes when I started recognizing some of the familiar faces I had chatted with on Twitter. And just as they had been online--these people we just as amazing in person. I'd been a little nervous just walking up to them and introducing myself, but as I would quickly discover, this was the norm and runners always have something to talk about! Despite the rain, the event was fun to watch and I felt great about meeting some people that would be running that weekend.

On the Friday before the race, I headed down to the Expo shortly after it had opened. I had remembered how great it had been the previous year, and I looked forward to checking out the booths and feeling that crazy pre-race vibe again.

What I didn't expect was to turn a corner and come face to face with my running idols--Krista DuChene, Lanni Marchant and awesome newcomer (who comes from my husband's hometown) Kim Doerksen. Feeling like a starstruck teenager, I asked them to sign my bib for me. Kim's mother who was there taking photos remarked, "Your first autograph!" I snapped a photo, chatted with Krista for awhile about her injury and Kim about her hometown. I quickly forgot that these three are pretty much the fastest women in Canada they truly are so nice. It was an incredibly inspiring moment for me. I continued on to roam the expo only to turn another corner and meet John Stanton, the founder of the Running Room who chatted with me about my goal. I told him I had run the distance a couple times in training but wasn't quite sure about the race goal. He said that the average women finishes the half at around 2:15. I went home feeling completely inspired. Another newbie runner tip: spend time at the expo, you never know who you will meet or what you will learn!

The night before the race I set out all my gear, ate my favourite pre-race dinner (salmon, rice and green beans) and headed to bed on time.

The next morning my husband kindly drove me to the start. As we walked from the parking area, his phone kept beeping away from text messages, but he didn't really say anything about it. We wandered into Tim Hortons so he could get a tea. When we walked out, I came face to face with my sister and niece! They had traveled all the way from Oshawa by GO train to surprise and support me. Given it was my sister who inspired me to start running, it really meant a lot to have them there. It was such an amazing treat, and a welcomed distraction from my pre-race nerves. We chatted near the corral entrance and took some photos as I tried to stay warm and psyche myself up for the challenge ahead.

The corrals ahead started and we slowly started moving ahead. The image in my brain as I headed toward the start was of my husband, sister and niece on the other side of the fence smiling and cheering.

Before I knew it, our corral was taking off!

The route was very crowded for the first stretch, with people darting this way and that. When we turned onto Bloor Street, things smoothed out a bit. It was fun to turn onto Bathurst and see Honest Ed's knowing it would be on the medal I was working towards. When I arrived at Lakeshore, I had hoped to see some of the lead pack going in the opposite direction, but I had missed them. I did however enjoy the shouts back and forth as people recognized friends or crew members on the other side of Lakeshore. The crowds of family and friends along the route were amazing. Great signs, constant cheering, bells, horns and clapping. It definitely made the adrenaline surge! I was feeling good. My pace was steady and around what I had hoped heading into the turn around near High Park. I had been popping chews into my mouth every couple of kilometers. Along the route back along Lakeshore, a runner tripped or collapsed and fell hard along the side of the road. Those around slowed or paused. Thankfully there were volunteers and a medic there within moments. Another girl stood at the side of the road holding her stomach. You could just tell that these images got into the brains of those seeing them. I tried to push these sights aside and not let ideas creep into my head that maybe I didn't feel so great! I walked for a bit and took some deep breaths. I took a quick photo of a kilometer marker sign and texted it to my husband. Better. When I arrived at the section of Lakeshore that I had run for the 5K the year before I was pumped knowing I was less than 5K away. I was definitely feeling the effort. My throat was dry beyond what water could relieve and my breathing a bit raspy. I was still getting over a small cold and feared I would start coughing. I alternated stretches of hard running with short walk breaks. Glancing at my running app, I was pleased to see this wasn't affecting my overall pace. At last I arrived at the split for the marathoners and half marathoners. Wow. I couldn't help but be amazed that those taking the marathon routes were not even half way yet. I could not even fathom repeating what I just did. I smiled knowing that the end was near and turned onto Bay Street and I started pushing hard. I remembered from last year that it is slightly uphill section of 'almost there' feels like it lasts forever. Well, my memory did not fail me! That last stretch was the hardest and most painful part of the entire race. And then, emerging ahead was the last slight turn, the music, the announcer, the crowds, the cheers...the finish line. I gave whatever I had left and crossed the finish. It literally took me a moment to realize I could stop running...and for it to sink in that I had done it!

I proudly accepted my medal, a foil blanket (Ooo, my first foil blanket!) and followed the bottle-necked line up to get food. The crowd of people was insane! I texted my husband and managed to figure out where they were. It turned out that they had watched me finish from the upper level of the Square, right above the finish line. I gladly accepted their hugs as it continued to sink in that I had set out to finish a half marathon--and I had done it!